Dog Aggression Problem

These are problems resulting from aggressive behaviour shown by dogs. Suck aggression may be due to various causes.

While aggression is a natural responses to several things in the dog’s environment, it is also a very serious problems for dog that dog owners have to deal with as soon as possible.

This is because an aggressive dog poses a danger to his owner as well as those around him. Aggressive dogs tend to be unpredictable and in most cases will suffer injuries since they are more likely to get into fights.

There are many types of aggression behaviours that stem from dogs:

1. Maternal aggression

This is aggression shown by bitches that have whelped. It is a mother’s instinct to protect her young thus the bitch is aggressive to anyone or anything she sees as a threat to her puppies. This behaviour may resolve itself when the puppies are separated from the mother.

Hormonal imbalances may also cause this response to be more than it should be, in such cases, the dog has to be taken to the vet for a check up.

2. Dominance aggression

A dominant dog will at times act aggressively towards subordinates in order to assert his position as the dominant dog. The subordinates in this case are mostly other animals but may be humans as well.

Such a dog will usually try to have his way in most situations. These dogs are very problematic since they do what they want, when they want.

3. Fear aggression

Timid dogs will at times display aggressive behaviour as a way to protect themselves from harm. Fear aggression is a very bad problem since the dog is likely to snap or try to bite people they see as threats, especially if they feel they have no way to escape.

Many owners make the situation worse by tensing up when the dog displays fear aggression. In turn, the dog takes this as a positive affirmation that the situation is really bad and this only makes the dog fear more and in turn act worse.

4. Redirected aggression

This is when a dog redirects his aggression toward the person that disrupted his aggressive behaviour. When separating dogs, especially those engaged in a dog fight, never use your bare hands. Instead, you should place water in a container and throw it on the dogs, do this from a safe distance.   

5. Territorial aggression

If a person or other dog intrudes into a territory that the dog terms as his, then the dog will show aggressive behaviour until the intruder is out of his territory.    

6. Pain aggression

A dog in extreme pain may show aggression toward people or things that try to come near him. This is especially evident in a dog that has been injured; the dog will resist any attempt to touch the injured area since he thinks it will cause him more pain. In such cases, it is wise to muzzle the dog to prevent him from biting. Then, take him to the vet for further examination and management of the injury.

Dogs showing aggression should not be left unsupervised especially in the presence of strangers. Proper dog training is necessary to stop this aggressive behaviour before it gets worse. Signs of aggression will include growling, bearing of teeth, biting, snapping, and excessive salivation.

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